


Under the Lights Tonight

by moonbands



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Muke - Freeform, This is really fluffy at the end, it makes my heart hurt, this whole thing is just really cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-18
Updated: 2015-06-18
Packaged: 2018-04-04 22:51:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4155966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonbands/pseuds/moonbands
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Luke gets up to see what's at his window, the last thing he expects is Michael Clifford. Well, maybe the last thing he expects is an adventure with Michael Clifford in the middle of the night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Under the Lights Tonight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Diamela](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Diamela).



Luke startles awake, but he doesn't know why. His heart is beating in his chest, and he picks up his phone from his bedside table. Just as he sees its 11 pm, a loud knock on his window gets his heart racing again. 

Luke scrambles out of his bed, slinking over to his window and pulling back the curtains slowly. He meets a pair of green eyes staring back at him, causing him to yelp and jump back in surprise. He opens his window hurriedly, glaring at his best friend that's standing on the roof of his front porch. "What are you doing here, Mikey?" 

"Good to see you, too," Michael replies sarcastically. He holds out a hand, and Luke takes it, helping him inside his room. It's harder to do than he's ever seen in movies, probably because his 6 foot tall friend is climbing through a 3 by 3 square hole. Luke manages to pull him inside just as Michael loses balance and they end up a heap on the floor, giggling quietly to keep from waking anyone up.

"Will you sneak out with me?" Michael asks hopefully, sitting back up but remaining on Luke's legs. 

"Where are we going?" Luke whispers, which is all the answer Michael needs. He gets up off of Luke and sits on his unmade bed as Luke puts on some actual clothes besides the boxers he was sleeping in. 

"That would give away the fun of adventure," Michael states, and Luke has to agree. He's never snuck out with Michael before, as his house is in the middle of nowhere. He's excited about this, all traces of sleepiness melting away when he turns around to Michael again. 

Luke motions for him over to the window, and pretty soon they're both climbing out, leaving the window open just a little bit so Luke can get back in. Michael grabs ahold of the edge of the porch roof and slides himself off, dropping down and looking back at Luke. Luke tries his best to replicate Michael, and he feels Michael's hands on his waist, holding him steady, so he lets go. Luke turns around to see Michael smiling at him. "Way to go, Monkey," Michael jokes. 

Then they're running to his car, starting it up quietly and following the road out of nowhere. Luke feels a rush as Michael rolls down both of their windows, the warm air now swirling around him inside the car. Michael turns on the radio when they're far enough away from any civilization, and Green Day starts blasting out into the night. It takes 20 minutes to get to the city, and they find themselves singing along loudly to the songs. When they start seeing lights, Michael turns down the radio until they stop in a parking lot just at the end of a shop line. Michael tells Luke to get out, and he's curious as to what they're going to do.

Michael walks closely to Luke as they make their way down the sidewalk, the lights from the tiny 24 hour shops giving a soft glow to their surroundings. There's music playing outside each shop, all the same poppy song that Luke can't remember the name to. He looks into every shop he passes, and he's intrigued by the trinkets displayed in the windows. Michael pulls on his wrist as he turns into an open door that Luke hadn't seen before. 

As they walk inside towards the front counter, Luke takes his time looking around the store. There are tons of pictures all over the walls, and in every one of them there's a person showing a tattoo. There's a bald man sitting in a chair on his phone, probably waiting for one of his friends. The guy Michael starts talking to has a tattoo sleeve on each arm and a few piercings on one ear. By now, Luke's figured out he's in a tattoo shop, and he's even more confused.

"Luke," Michael starts, turning back to his friend. "Will you get a tattoo with me tonight?" He's hesitant in his question, as if he knows Luke is going to reject him before thinking about it.

"Of what?" Luke mumbles, glancing at the open design book on the counter. He suddenly feels a little nauseous because he didn't even have time to think about this.

"The tallies. Please, Luke, please?" Michael begs, placing an arm on Luke's bicep. Luke definitely feels better when he hears that he'd get the tallies and not some other tattoo. He spent a lot of time by himself, talking himself into getting the tallies. He wants to show his dedication to this band, and he feels bad for letting Ashton be the only one with the tattoo. It doesn't really matter that it's not their logo anymore, he still thinks of it as so.

"Okay," Luke agrees. He feels a sense of fondness as a grin grows on Michael's face. Michael takes his wrist in his hand again and pulls him towards the front counter, where the man sets out two stacks of papers and a pen on top. 

"My name is Chase Jackson, I'll be the one tattooing you both today. It shouldn't take long for both tattoos, maybe an hour on average. If you want to look at my portfolio after you finish the contracts, it's there on the counter. I'll be in the back getting set up. I'll come to get you when I'm done, and then we can get started." The man, Chase, gave a smile and walked out of the room, leaving Michael and Luke to fill out the waivers. 

Michael was the first one done, and he pulled out his phone and started scrolling through his Twitter. Luke finished his, and pretty soon Chase came back out and put their waivers in a file. He curled his finger, motioning for the two boys to follow him. Luke's heart started beating hard, walking into a room with two comfortable-looking chairs and one stool. 

"Which one of you want to go first?" Chase asked, patting the chairs and then reaching into a container, pulling out an alcohol wipe. Luke turns to Michael with wide eyes, already feeling his hesitancy taking over. 

"I'll go first," Michael answers after meeting Luke's eyes. Michael sits in the chair to their left, leaving the right chair open for Luke. Luke sits down carefully, avoiding all the tools set up behind Chase, who is sitting in between the two boys.

Luke is barely aware of anything happening, his head filling with worries. Chase shows both of them the sketch he made, and he nods his approval along with Michael, but he feels like it was automatic. His eyes train on Michael's right wrist as the needle presses down, and soon Chase is drawing the outline of five tallies into Michael's skin. 

It doesn't take long for Chase to finish, covering the tattoo with a bandage after showing both of them, and it looks really good even if Michael's skin is red. Luke kind of gets excited at that, preparing himself for his first tattoo. Chase moves his stool to Luke's right side, and takes out another alcohol wipe to clean Luke's wrist. He draws the tattoo on Luke's skin first, then presses the needle to the drawing. 

At this point, Luke notices he's been holding his breath. He exhales loudly, and he feels a few fingers prodding at his left hand. He turns to Michael, who takes Luke's hand in his own. Luke gives a small smile, grateful for his amazing best friend at this moment. Luke feels the needle pressing through his skin, and it feels more like an ache as it drags along his wrist. 

"Don't look at it," Michael whispers, and Luke notices he's been intensely staring at his wrist. He turns back around to Michael, and finds himself lost and Michael's reassuring smile. "Are you excited?" Michael asks, his thumb rubbing over the back of Luke's hand.

Luke takes a minute to process what Michael said. "Yeah, I am. I've been thinking about getting this tattoo for a while." 

"Me too. I didn't want Ashton to be the only one with it, you know?" Michael continues the conversation, squeezing Luke's hand as it contorts in pain. 

"That's what I was worried about," Luke agrees. He's urged to look back at his wrist as there's a slight pause in the conversation, but then he's reminded of something. "Is this all you had planned for tonight?" 

Michael's lips curl into a smirk, and he shakes his head. "I can't tell you what else we're doing, Lukey. But I do have a question. Do you want a milkshake or ice cream?" 

Luke gives a smile of his own. "Milkshake." Their conversation continues, and it mostly consists of Luke begging Michael to tell him what else they're going to do. Chase notifies Luke that his tattoo is done, and Michael leans over to get a look too. Luke is really happy with his tattoo, and he feels the adrenaline rush through his body at the fact he actually got a tattoo.

After bandaging his wrist and going through the care of tattoos, Michael and Luke pay Chase for a great job, and then they're out the door. It's 12:30 by the time they leave the tattoo shop, and the streets are still busy. Michael guides Luke into one of the last shops down the line and enters with Luke trailing behind. 

Luke immediately notices all the blenders lined up on the counter, and his mouth waters as he sees the different flavors behind the worker at the front. Luke tells the worker which milkshake he wants, followed by Michael, and before he can pull out his wallet, Michael's handing him two milkshakes and paying for them himself. As he walks to one of the tables set up, he scolds Michael, "You didn't have to pay for mine."

Michael laughs, taking a seat across from Luke, dragging his milkshake over to his side. "Think of it as a treat from me. For getting your first tattoo." And Luke can't complain about a free milkshake. 

It takes longer thank Luke thought it would for both of them to finish, and then they stay even longer just talking. Luke is having a really good time hanging out with his best friend, but yawns keep slipping from his mouth, and he catches Michael yawning once or twice. At Michael's third yawn, he suddenly stands up. 

"Come with me to the bathroom," Michael instructs Luke. Luke hesitates, because he's not exactly sure what Michael wants to do with him in there, but he figures he wouldn't care whatever it is. 

Luke follows Michael into the one-room bathroom, where Michael locks the door behind them. He heads over to the sink, and pulls the bandage off his wrist carefully. He motions Luke over, then helps Luke take his own bandage off. 

"These look cool," Michael approves, holding his own wrist up to Luke's. "Hold still while I take a picture." Luke holds his arm up as Michael digs out his phone from his pocket. Michael snaps a picture of both of their tattoos, and Luke watches as he sends it in the band group chat. He likes that he had Michael with him when he got his first tattoo. After putting the bandages in the trash, Michael pushes Luke back out of the bathroom. 

The two boys leave the milkshake shop, Michael leading the way back to his car. Luke's not sure what time it is anymore, but he doesn't really care as long as he doesn't see sun. Pretty soon they're on their way back to Luke's house, and Luke feels sad that their night is over so quickly. At least, he only has time to feel sad until Michael's pulling off the road. Luke looks out the window in confusion as he pulls up next to the start of the woods. 

Michael shuts off the car, climbing out, and Luke stays inside. He hears Michael open the trunk, and he looks back for any kind of indication of what he's doing, but Michael is closing the trunk before he can see anything. He walks over to Luke's door and opens it, where Luke is still buckled into his seat. "You coming?" he asks, and Luke can see he's got towels and saran wrap in his arms, and he's even more confused.

Luke unbuckles and gets out of the car, following Michael into the woods as he locks the car behind them. Luke's eyes take a minute to adjust to the complete darkness, but as soon as they do, he can see that they're following an unmarked trail that's probably just been used so much that the grass is matted down. It's not long before the path opens up to a clearing, and then Luke views a lake he had no idea was here. 

Michael doesn't waste any time in shedding his shirt and pants, leaving him in his boxers. He grabs the saran wrap and pulls out a long piece. "Can you help me?" He asks Luke, and Luke turns to him and grabs the saran wrap.

"What do you want me to do with it?" He questions.

"Wrap it tightly around my wrist," Michael explains, walking Luke through the process. Pretty soon Michael's tattoo is covered, and he's not sure his skin can breathe. "Now take off your shirt," Michael instructs.

"Why?" Luke asks, confused now more than ever. He does it anyways, and he doesn't get an answer. Michael helps him wrap his own wrist in saran wrap, just like Michael's. 

Michael starts pulling down his boxers, and Luke is freaked out. "What are you doing?" 

Michael stares at him for a moment, before giggling. "You haven't connected it together? We're going skinny dipping, Luke." With that said, Michael's boxers are on the ground with the rest of his clothes, and he's running into the water, yelping as he screams out how cold it is.

Luke nods, finding a lack of caring for anything at this particular moment, and he strips the rest of his clothes. He runs into the lake just like Michael, reacting pretty much the same. The water is cold against his skin, and he dips his head under water to get used to it faster. When he comes back up, he looks around and notices his company is gone. 

It comes out of nowhere. As soon as he feels the hands on his legs, he's tipping over and splashing back into the water. He comes back up to find a laughing Michael, so he splashes water towards his friend. "Jerk," Luke accuses, but the smile on his face shows he's not actually upset.

"Aw, you big baby," Michael teases, wading towards Luke and pressing his body against him. Luke can feel Michael's arms crossed at his stomach, so he wraps his own around Michael to help warm him. 

"You cold, Mikey?" Luke asks, his lips pressed to Michael's bare shoulder. Michael nods, resting his chin on Luke's shoulder. Luke decides it's nice to stand here with Michael. He feels already close to his best friend, figuratively and literally, and he really enjoys Michael's company. 

The problem is, he feels like they're never going to get used to the cold water if they're just standing there, so he unwraps himself from Michael and swims away from him. Michael swims after him, and pretty soon they're playing a game of two-person tag, which doesn't last long at all because Michael swears Luke cheated by not giving him a 5 second head start, and Luke stubbornly says he just has long legs. They end up splashing each other and start a water war. They're both breathing heavy and laughing hard until Michael moves out of the lake to get his stuff.

Luke doesn't feel like moving from the water, so he floats for a while as Michael dries himself off. He finds himself get lost in the stars, his eyes refusing to blink as he thinks about what he's done tonight. It's not every day that he sneaks out with Michael Clifford. In fact, this is the first time. Luke thinks he could do it again if Michael wanted to, he's loved it so far. It's some weird hour of the night, his room is empty, and he's here with his best friend in the whole world. He wouldn't change anything.

Luke looks up when he hears Michael calling for him. Michael's holding up a towel for Luke in one hand, and his phone in the other. Luke's not stupid, he's seen him do this to Calum before. "Is this your towel?" he asks, but Luke just shrugs.

"Not my towel." Luke smiles sweetly.

"Do you want me to record you getting out of the lake?" Michael prods, and Luke shrugs again.

"I don't mind," he answers. He starts walking towards shore, and Michael swears when Luke exposes himself in front of the camera. 

"I can't post this," Michael complains, pouting as Luke walks over to him. Luke takes the towel from Michael and wraps it around himself, shivering as the cool air hits his skin. He dries himself off, and moves closer to Michael to see what he's doing on his phone. "I'm going to send this to you so I can save it again," Michael announces, and Luke can hear the message deliver to his phone. 

Now Michael has two videos of Luke's junk, and Luke kind of finds it funny. He watches as Michael crops the first one to where Luke is just about to show himself, and he uses that one to post on Instagram. Michael deletes the video from his library when he's done, but he keeps the full length one. "And I'm going to use that one for blackmail." Luke rolls his eyes as he drapes his towel over his shoulders and clenching it over his chest.

Luke and Michael put on their boxers, pants, and shoes, but leave off their shirts as they stumble back to the car. When Luke climbs in, he asks, "Are you taking me home now?" He tries to hide the sadness in his voice, but his expression gives it away. 

"Don't worry, Lukey. We have one more stop," Michael answers. He turns on the car, and then they're back on the road. It doesn't take long before Michael is pulling off the road again, and Luke knows exactly where they are. Before he gets out of the car, he unwraps the saran wrap from his wrist. 

Michael turns off the car again and climbs out. He walks over to the hood of the car and sits on top, joined by Luke a second later. They both look out at the city a few miles away. All they can see are the twinkling lights spreading across the horizon like water poured onto a tabletop. It's beautiful in the way that they see it but aren't near it. That they've been a part of it but aren't a part of it now.

Luke's towel warms him as he realizes it's gotten colder through the night. He turns his head to see Michael comfortably sat in his own towel wrapped around him. His eyes twinkle as the light hits them from the city miles away. Luke finds his chest tightening as he stares at his best friend. 

Luke has been battling his feelings for his best friend for a while now. He knows he shouldn't have a crush on Michael, but he does. Michael is his whole world. He's been there for Luke when he was feeling down, and for when Luke was feeling on top of the world. They have shared many experiences and emotions that Luke would never want to share with anyone else. They've told each other things they would never tell someone else. A good portion of Luke's life has also been Michael's, and there's no hiding the history between them. All of these things together makes Luke wonder if he'd ever want anyone else besides Michael in his life forever. 

Michael turns to Luke, and their eyes meet. Before he knows what's happening, he feels lips pressed against his, and a hand on his arm. It's only a peck, but Luke feels a great weight lifted off his shoulders. Luke turns back to look at the city, taking in a deep breath. Without saying anything, Michael moves over and rests his head on Luke's shoulder. They don't need to say anything.

The two boys stare out at the city for a few minutes, soaking in the quiet night. Luke finds himself resting his cheek against Michael's hair. A yawn breaks through his lips, and he feels so content in his spot in the moment.

Michael lifts off of Luke's shoulder and lays down on the windshield. He puts his towel under his head and closes his eyes, a yawn escaping his mouth too. Luke copies his actions, snuggling into Michael's chest. His lips meet Michael's skin, so he starts pressing kisses against him. It's a sweet moment, but Luke feels his eyelids start to droop, and soon he's falling asleep.

 

Luke wakes up to someone running their fingers through his hair. He knows it's Michael when he opens his eyes, and he doesn't want to move. "Good morning, Sleepyhead," Michael greets him quietly. Luke lifts his head to look at Michael, who's giving him a small smile. Michael looks really tired, as if he didn't sleep through the night. 

Luke sits up, stretching his sore limbs and then leaning back on his hands. He looks out to the city, which is being woken up by rays of sunlight. "It's probably really early," Luke thinks out loud. "My parents will get up soon." Luke's voice is scratchy, like the few hours he slept had taken a toll on his vocal cords. 

"I'll take you home," Michael whispers, sliding off the hood of the car. He grabs his and Luke's towels and walks to the trunk. Luke opens the car door and pulls on his shirt. He climbs inside, and Michael gets in a moment later and starts the car. Before Luke is even ready to leave, Michael is pulling out onto the road and driving to Luke's house. Luke stares out the window, music playing softly from the radio. 

When they get to Luke's house, Michael helps him climb onto the porch roof and in through his window. Luke smiles and waves a small goodbye, knowing he'll see his friend some time later. He shuts his window and climbs into bed, his body exhausted, and he falls asleep.

Luke swears he was only asleep for a minute before someone is knocking on his door. "Luke," he hears his mom's voice. "Michael's here, I'm going to let him in your room." Luke feels himself smile as he calls out an "okay."

Not a minute later, his door opens and closes. Feet pad against his bedroom floor, and then someone's climbing into his bed. Luke turns to face Michael, who already looks comfy. Michael leans over and gives Luke a small kiss. "Go to sleep, Lukey. We'll talk later." 

Luke nods, and he falls asleep again with Michael wrapped in his arms. Luke feels content as Michael breathes against his neck, his arms wrapped around Luke's waist. He knows they have to talk about the kisses, but he knows it doesn't matter either. All that really matters to Luke at the moment is the boy in his arms, and the light feeling in his heart when his eyes close.


End file.
